If you access multiple POP email accounts with Outlook, Outlook delivers all new mail to the Inbox folder. You could set up Outlook to deliver mail to different inboxes. However, to make things easier, sort the Inbox by account and then by date, for example, to view messages that belong together. This way, your mail is grouped by email accounts.

Sort Your Outlook Inbox by Email Account

To sort or group the emails in your Outlook Inbox by the email account at which you received them:

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, and Outlook for Microsoft 365.

  • Go to the View tab.
  • In the Current View group, select View Settings.
  • In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, select Group By.
  • In the Group By dialog box, clear the Automatically group according to arrangement check box.
  • Select the Select available fields from dropdown arrow and choose All Mail fields.
  • Select the Group items by dropdown arrow and choose Email Account.
  • Select OK.
  • In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, select Sort.
  • In the Sort dialog box, select how messages should be sorted in the account groups. For example, to sort messages according to when the messages were received, select Received.
  • Select OK to close the Sort dialog box.
  • Select OK to close the Advanced View Settings dialog box.
  • With the Outlook reading pane disabled or at the bottom, use column headers to change the sort order within account groups.

Fake a Unified Inbox Folder in Outlook

To include all IMAP and Exchange accounts in a unified inbox, use a quick search (or a simple VBA macro).

Go to the View tab.

In the Current View group, select View Settings.

In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, select Group By.

In the Group By dialog box, clear the Automatically group according to arrangement check box.

Select the Select available fields from dropdown arrow and choose All Mail fields.

Select the Group items by dropdown arrow and choose Email Account.

Select OK.

In the Advanced View Settings dialog box, select Sort.

In the Sort dialog box, select how messages should be sorted in the account groups. For example, to sort messages according to when the messages were received, select Received.

Select OK to close the Sort dialog box.

Select OK to close the Advanced View Settings dialog box.

With the Outlook reading pane disabled or at the bottom, use column headers to change the sort order within account groups.

To collect all mail from your IMAP, Exchange, and PST (POP) inboxes in a search results folder with Outlook:

  • Place the cursor in the Search Current Mailbox text box. Or, press Ctrl+E.
  • In some versions of Outlook, the box is title Search.
  • Enter folder:(inbox).
  • Select the Search dropdown arrow and choose All Mailboxes.
  • The current view settings are applied. If grouping by account is in effect, results from all your Outlook inboxes are grouped by account.

Place the cursor in the Search Current Mailbox text box. Or, press Ctrl+E.

In some versions of Outlook, the box is title Search.

Enter folder:(inbox).

Select the Search dropdown arrow and choose All Mailboxes.

The current view settings are applied. If grouping by account is in effect, results from all your Outlook inboxes are grouped by account.

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